Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I commend Senator David Norris for an excellent contribution and interview on Today FM. I have not yet heard it, but I have received a number of messages telling me it was powerful and that people who are undecided will veer towards voting in favour of keepng the Seanad. I commend my colleague from County Clare, Senator Tony Mulcahy, for his comments to local media that the €20 million figure is a lie. We all have a responsibility as public representatives to ensure accurate information is in the public domain. Politics as a profession is suffering enough in terms of cynicism without having posters with figures that are not correct. Would we put up a poster indicating that there were 33% fewer gardaí or teachers? The notion of having 33% fewer politicians demeans the profession of politics and the people who dedicate their lives to it. I describe it as a low form of a Tesco ad, the type of ad we do not like or an ad for cheap yellow pack products we do not like. Politics is a noble profession and the vast majority of those in it are dedicated to providing public service, improving Irish society, improving the lives of people, particularly those who are less fortunate than themselves, and doing good for their local and national communities. I still believe politics is a profession of which we should all be proud and that this attempt to demean politics, regardless of whether it is deliberate, will backfire.